


A Good Place

by IronWoman359



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 04:02:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16526939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IronWoman359/pseuds/IronWoman359
Summary: Angst Prompt #10: “We grew apart, and at this point I’m glad.”Human Coffeeshop AU. It's been years since Virgil's last relationship ended, and he's been doing really well...then one day a familiar face turns up at the cafe owned by his best friend.





	A Good Place

“Pumpkin spice latte for Remy!” Virgil called out, passing a cup over to the customer in the leather jacket.

“Thanks gurrl!” they drawled, grinning at Virgil before sauntering away. Virgil rolled his eyes in response, but he couldn’t help but smile. Remy was one of the regulars who made his job a little more interesting, and for that, Virgil was grateful.

Not that Virgil hated his job, mind you. In fact, despite the early morning shifts, the occasional annoying customers, and the fact that almost all of his clothes smelled like coffee now, Virgil couldn’t have been happier with where he was in life.

He was working a shift with Logan, his best friend who also happened to be the cafe’s owner and manager, mixing drinks while Logan took the orders, so when the bell on the front door rang to indicate another customer had entered, he didn’t look up from his work, confident that Logan would take care of it.

That is, until he heard a sharp intake of breath from beside him.

He glanced over his shoulder to see Logan standing stock still, staring at the customer who’d just come in. Logan’s customer service was impeccable, so Virgil didn’t understand what could have unnerved his friend so badly...until he saw for himself who it was that had walked into the cafe.

Virgil hadn’t seen his ex in almost two years, and hadn’t really been expecting to anytime soon, yet here he was, plain as day, walking into the coffee shop and back into Virgil’s life like it was no big deal.

Which, judging by the shocked expression on the other man’s face, had been exactly what he’d been expecting when he’d decided to stop for a cup of coffee. The sight of Logan and Virgil staring at him seemed to make him just as uneasy as they were, and that realization caused some of the tension to drain from Virgil’s shoulders.

“It’s okay, L,” he said gently, laying a hand on his friend’s forearm.

“Are you sure?” Logan asked, glancing over at Virgil with a worried look.

Virgil took a deep breath, then nodded.

“I’m sure. Can you...can you just give us a minute?”

Logan still looked apprehensive, but he nodded, shooting Virgil’s ex one last look before he disappeared through the “employees only” door that lead back to the shop’s office and kitchen.

Virgil turned, and found himself face to face with a pair of mismatched eyes under a fringe of brown bangs.

“Hi, Dee,” Virgil said, throwing the usual false cheerfulness he used on customers out the window. There was no use in pretending with his ex.

“Virgil,” Dee replied, picking at his fingernails. “I...I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Virgil nodded, shrugging.

“Logan’s the owner. I’ve been working here since...” he trailed off, unsure of how much he should say. “I’ve worked here awhile,” he finished lamely.

Dee nodded, his gaze flicking to the side for a brief moment before he looked up to scan the menu board.

“Well, you’re the expert then. What’s good here?”

Virgil didn’t even hesitate.

“Cinnamon latte with almond milk and a shot of vanilla.”

Dee’s lips quirked up with the hint of a smile.

“Sounds good. I’ll do a medium of one of those.”  

Virgil nodded and busied himself making the drink.

“You’re looking good.”

Dee spoke so quietly that Virgil almost didn’t hear him, but when his brain registered what had been said, he had to focus to keep from dropping the carton of almond milk. He settled for gripping it tightly, watching his knuckles turn white with the pressure and steadying his breathing.

“I feel good,” he replied, finally glancing up once he’d steamed the milk and poured it into a glass.

“That’s...good,” Dee said, nodding almost more to himself than anyone else.

Virgil didn’t reply, just poured the espresso and cinnamon into the cup and began to stir it, keeping his eyes focused on his work.

“Virgil, I–I just want to say, um...”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Virgil said with a shake of his head, but a quick glance up revealed that his ex had stepped forward, his mismatched eyes gazing at him intently.

“No, I...” Dee sighed and ran a hand over his face. “I’ve thought about this a lot, about what I should have said, what I should have done differently...sometimes I thought about texting you or maybe calling, but then I thought that would just make things worse...”

“It probably would have,” Virgil admitted before he could stop himself. A slight frown flitted across Dee’s face before he pressed onward.

“Just, we’re here now, so I’m going to say what I should have said a long time ago, okay?”

Virgil swallowed, trying to keep his anxiety from showing on his face. He just had to finish Dee’s latte, and then it’d be over and he’d leave and–

“I’m sorry for what I did.”

Virgil looked up from the latte, shocked by what he was hearing.

“I–what?”

“The breakup...that was totally my fault, and it was way out of line. I know I shouldn’t have done things that way, I should have talked to you about it, but...” Dee shifted his weight from foot to foot. “I...wasn’t really in...a good place? Two years ago? And a lot of that got taken out on our relationship, and I...I feel really bad about it, especially how it ended, and I–”

“Dee, stop.” Dee looked up at him and Virgil sighed. “It wasn’t all your fault.”

“Virgil–”

“No, listen. For once,  _you_ are going to listen to  _me_ , okay?”

Dee’s eyes widened, but then his mouth twitched in another small smile, and he nodded.

Virgil ran a hand through his hair, Dee’s latte sitting forgotten on the counter.

“Us breaking up, it was not all your fault. I mean, the way we broke up, yeah, that was your fault. And I’m not gonna lie, that really fucked me up for awhile.”

Dee grimaced and looked away, but Virgil kept talking.

“But  _I_ wasn’t in a good place either back then, and the two of us...we weren’t good for one another. We only brought out the worst in each other, and honestly? If you hadn’t left when you did, I doubt we would have lasted much longer. The groundwork for a breakup was already there. We grew apart, and at this point I’m glad.”

“Glad?” Dee asked, and Virgil nodded.

“Like I said, you just up and leaving with barely a word, that...that really fucked me up. I already wasn’t doing so hot mentally, and that was just...sort of the final straw, you know? I ended up losing my job, I couldn’t pay rent and got evicted, it was a mess.”

Virgil leaned on the back counter, folding his arms across his chest.

“But I think...I think since a part of me knew it was coming, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, you know?”

“That...sounds pretty bad, Virgil,” Dee said, raising an eyebrow, and Virgil almost laughed.

“Well yeah, but Logan was able to talk some sense into me. He let me crash at his place til I got back on my feet, convinced me to go to therapy, he even gave me this job after I started to get a little better.” Virgil gestured around, then seemed to remember Dee’s latte. He grabbed the cup and mixed in the shot of vanilla before pouring the whole thing into a to go cup.

“Whipped cream?” he asked, and Dee nodded.

Virgil put the finishing touches on the beverage and slid it across to his ex.

“That’ll be $3.57″ he said, and Dee handed over his credit card. 

Just as Virgil was finishing up the purchase and handing Dee his card back, the store bell dinged again and two people came in, laughing together loudly. 

“Hi Virgil!” the shorter of the two cried, and a soft smile spread across Virgil’s face. 

“Hey, Pat.” 

“Where’s Logan?” the taller man asked, and Virgil rolled his eyes. 

“Hello to you too, Roman.” He gestured to the door behind him. “Your useless gay of a boyfriend is in his office.” 

“Like you’re one to talk,” Roman shot back playfully as he made his way behind the counter and through the “employees only” door. 

Patton leaned up on his tiptoes to kiss Virgil on the cheek, causing the barista to blush. 

“You doing okay, sweetheart?” Patton asked, giving Virgil a searching look. 

“Yeah...” Virgil said slowly. “Just...a lot going on today. I’ll tell you about it after work, okay?” 

“Alright,” Patton agreed. He regarded Virgil for a moment before his face split into a wide smile. “I love you!” 

“Love you too,” Virgil responded as Patton practically skipped after Roman through the “employees only” door. 

Virgil smiled after him for a moment, before he turned and realized Dee was still standing at the counter watching the events unfold silently. 

“He seems nice,” Dee commented, and despite himself, Virgil smiled again. 

“He is. He’s the nicest person I’ve ever met. He became the cafe’s pastry chef a few months after I started working here.” 

“Does...does he know about...” 

Virgil nodded before Dee could even finish. 

“I told him all about it. We’ve been together six months, and we tell each other everything.” 

Dee nodded, a sad smile flicking across his face. 

“That’s good.” He looked around at the cafe, then back at Virgil. “It seems like you’re in a good place.”

 Virgil nodded back, unsure of what to say. 

“That’s good,” Dee said again as he turned to leave. “You deserve it.” 

Virgil stood frozen for a moment as Dee began walking away, but he snapped out of it before the other could reach the door. 

“Dee!” 

He turned, and Virgil took a deep breath to steady himself. 

“Have you...have you been to any therapy? Since...since, you know, back then?” 

Dee looked surprised at the question, but he shook his head. 

“Uh, no. Therapy isn’t really...my  _thing,_  you know?” 

“You should give it a try sometime,” Virgil insisted. “It...it really helps. And you...you deserve to be in a good place too.”

Dee’s eyes widened, then a small, hesitant smile spread across his face. 

“Yeah...well, maybe.” He paused, then he looked up and met Virgil’s eyes one last time. “Take care, Virgil.” 

Virgil nodded, and found that he was smiling too. 

“Bye, Dee.” 

Dee lifted his latte towards Virgil, then he turned and walked out, leaving the shop empty. Virgil stared after him, his head spinning slightly. Had that exchange actually just happened? He hadn’t expected to see Dee ever again, he hadn’t  _wanted_ to, and yet, they’d had decent, civil conversation with each other, and Virgil had even served him a latte. 

Virgil shook his head and put a sign that read “we’ll be right back!” on the counter, heading into the back room. He needed a minute to process everything. 

“Virgil!” Logan exclaimed. He pushed Roman aside, ignoring the indignant noise that followed. “Is everything alright?” 

Virgil looked at his best friend, at the concern shining in his eyes, and at the ridiculous look on Roman’s face over his shoulder. He turned and caught a glimpse of Patton in the kitchen, flour smeared across his apron and humming to himself. He smiled, and turned back to Logan. 

“Yeah. Everything’s good.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I got a little carried away building the backstory of this meeting, and not all of it made it into the fic, so here’s some additional info about this particular human au that I came up with but didn’t make it into the story in words per say: 
> 
> -Virgil has major abandonment issues from when he was a child, which is why it was such a big deal when Dee broke up with him.  
> -When Dee broke up with him, he didn’t talk to him about it, didn’t call, didn’t even text, he just packed up the stuff from their apartment and left a note on the kitchen counter for Virgil to find when he came home. Not cool, dude, especially when your bf gets panic attacks when he thinks that people are leaving him.  
> -Their relationship wasn’t abusive, but it was definitely toxic. Like Virgil said, neither of them were in a healthy place, and they only worsened each other’s mental health and brought out the worst in each other. That’s something Virgil realized during therapy.  
> -Virgil and Logan have been friends since high school. Virgil and Patton have been friends for about a year and a half, and dating for six months. Logan and Roman have been dating for just over a year. (So both Roman and Patton came into Virgil’s life after Dee left it, which is why they didn’t recognize him).  
> -Virgil did tell Patton everything, about his childhood and his mental health, and about his relationship with Dee. If Patton knew that that customer at the counter had been Virgil’s ex...well, the reaction would have been interesting! 
> 
> For those of you wondering, WIP updates like Our Own Villain and Lost and Found are coming soon, I'm just incredibly busy right now and it's easier to make one shots than it is to work on chaptered fics for me right now. I appreciate your patience and support! <3


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